Tuesday September 27, 2016 – MV Lukwa

Photo credit: Jennie Leaver. Image taken with a telephoto lens and cropped.

Photo credit: Jennie Leaver. Image taken with a telephoto lens and cropped.

Photo credit: Jennie Leaver. Image taken with a telephoto lens and cropped.

Photo credit: Jennie Leaver. Image taken with a telephoto lens and cropped.

Photo credit: Jennie Leaver. Image taken with a telephoto lens and cropped.

Photo credit: Jennie Leaver. Image taken with a telephoto lens and cropped.

Photo credit: Jennie Leaver. Image taken with a telephoto lens and cropped.

Photo credit: Jennie Leaver. Image taken with a telephoto lens and cropped.

Photo credit: Jennie Leaver. Image taken with a telephoto lens and cropped.

Photo credit: Alison Ogilvie. Image taken with a telephoto lens and cropped.

Photo credit: Alison Ogilvie. Image taken with a telephoto lens and cropped.

Photo credit: Alison Ogilvie. Image taken with a telephoto lens and cropped.

Photo credit: Alison Ogilvie. Image taken with a telephoto lens and cropped.

Photo credit: Alison Ogilvie. Image taken with a telephoto lens and cropped.

We don’t know who brought the sun with them but we’ll take it. The weather was marvellous today. After days of rain and wind, today was packed with sunshine and wonderfully calm conditions as we ventured out onto the Pacific Ocean.

Alison, our head naturalist calls this her favourite costal region “because of how much you can see in the area just outside Telegraph Cove.” This was evident today as we just broke the mouth of the cove and our first sighting began – Pacific White-sided Dolphins. Then something we didn’t see coming, a Sea Otter poked his/her head out. That was a surprise! None the less we continued on our path towards the dolphins. An exciting way to start the trip as this group chose to ride on the bow and in the wake of the Lukwa. In fact the lighting conditions were so pristine at this moment you could see rainbows in their blows.

The dolphins shortly departed and we went in search of the majestic giant Humpback Whales. If you have been reading our blog lately you’ll know there has been a lot of Humpbacks in our area lately. We were making our way along when the crackle of the radio sounded. Activity! and not far off. We arrived to find five different Humpback Whales all traveling together. Amazing as we watched them fluke one after the other.Our on board naturalist was able to identify all five of these individuals. They are known as Tag, Fern, Domino, Muppet and Merge. We watched as they traveled along together with a group of Steller Sea Lions. Then eventually they began to disperse and we went in search of what else mother nature had in store.

Sea bird activity continues in the area. Not surprising given all the Humpback feeding. With the calm conditions it was a delight to watch good sized rafts of Common Murres. Guests were able to easily make out their distinctive white bellies as they slightly stood up at the surface and flapped their wings. For those of our followers who don’t know, these are the superstars of the diving birds and can go to a depth of a hundred and sixty meters. A delight for bird and whale lovers both, as these birds help drive Herring into tight balls and up to the surface. This can also result in surface feeding amongst Humpback Whales.

Today guests were able to take in the full spectrum of what this area has to offer. We saw Dall’s and Harbour Porpoises, many Pacific Harbour Seals, over a hundred Steller Sea Lions and so much more. Also consistently since May we continue to see Humpback Whales everyday but now in greater numbers than we have seen all season. There were blows in the distance every we looked again today! Only four days left in #spectacularseptember, let the countdown begin! We hope you join us for the last remaining trips of 2016.